


Why? Why Are You Like This?

by ladeedadaday



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, F/M, Fighting, M/M, Mutual Pining, more like arguments, self harm tw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 23:35:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21977386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladeedadaday/pseuds/ladeedadaday
Summary: Ted goes to a new school and adventures ensue.TW: Self Harm (eventually), Homophobia, Slurs. I'll keep y'all updated.I'm making this modern but timeless.
Relationships: Henry Hidgens/Ted, Melissa/Charlotte - Relationship, Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	1. New Kid Cliche

Ted swung open the door of his new school and inhaled the off-putting scent of sweaty teenagers and coffee. Heads looked up from phones at him. Some looks were judgmental, some gave him a smile. He returned a smile; Ted had already learned to make a good impression. 

He believed that he was a good person, he believed that everyone was. But here he stood on the first day of senior year.

He could feel the eyes on him as he explored the prison he'd spend time in for the next ten months before he would be free. 

"Hey, you're new!" A guy abruptly stood next to Ted and wrapped his arm around Ted's shoulder. "Would you mind if we showed you around? I'm Paul." 

"Uh-um, sure." He stuttered, clutching his books closer to his chest and winching at the hand on his shoulder. "Could you let go of me now?" Paul gave him an awkward smile before releasing Ted's shoulder from his strong grip. "Where exactly are we going?" 

"Lockers. What number do you have?" Ted mumbled in response, suddenly growing more and more self conscious of his appearance. Paul took the sheet of paper from Ted's hand. "Oh, you're right by us! C'mon, you can come and meet my friends." 

He grabbed Ted's hand and started to drag him to the hallway in which their lockers were. "Who are your friends?" But he spotted them and had no need for Paul to point them out. 

They waved Paul down and greeted Ted with friendly expressions on their faces. "Hello!" One said.

"Paul, why'd you bring some random new kid over here?" The small girl leaning against a locker said, teasingly. 

Paul shrugged. "He looked lost. And he's a senior, too," He pointed out. Emma shrugged back. 

"Alright, what's your name?" Bill asked, busying his hands with the lock. 

He looked away from the other people and looked around for his locker, trying his hardest to avoid eye contact. "I'm Ted. What are your names?" 

"I'm Bill," He was done fumbling with his lock now. "That's Emma," Bill gestured to the girl who was leaning against her locker, "and that's Charlotte." Ted noticed that Charlotte had stayed quiet the whole time. She gave him a shy wave which he gratefully returned. "It's nice to meet you, Ted." 

He tried his hardest to keep his voice steady, but a tall, lanky boy caught his attention. He was wearing the dorkiest looking outfit, and yet he still was the most ethereal creature Ted had ever laid his eyes on. 

A dark red sweater covered all of a blue button-up shirt, save for the collar peeking out from underneath. His glasses sat high up on the bridge of his nose and he wore a black beanie. 

He looked angelic to Ted. "You looking at Henry Hidgens?" Paul snapped Ted out of his trance, probably for the best. Ted could only nod, still staring at Henry. "Anyway, what we were trying to say was, 'Do you wanna have lunch with us?'" Ted nodded again, finally tearing his glance away from Henry. "Great, I'll see you then. Ask any questions you have to us." Paul walked with his head up, Bill and Charlotte walking alongside him, both looking over their schedules. 

Emma hung back. "Hey, Ted? Henry used to be my best friend. I'd say shoot your shot with him, he's gay. Just please don't let him anywhere near me." Ted nodded, flashing her a small smile.

"Thanks," He whispered. As soon as he was alone he mumbled, "As if I'd have a chance with him."


	2. Lunch With a Side of Tears

Lunch finally came, but not before many awkward run-ins during class. 

It turns out that Henry is in _every single one_ of Ted's classes. He'd be seeing this guy a lot. Great. 

And although Ted tried to deny it, due to Emma's warning, Henry was actually a really nice and chill guy. Ted learned this when Henry approached him in a passing period. "Hey, it's Ted, right?" He started. Ted nodded, in shock at the fact that _Henry Hidgens_ was speaking to him. "Would you mind if I sit next to you? I noticed you hid in the back in class and there aren't a lot of people who like me." 

Ted could hardly stutter out a coherent sentence. "Oh! Y-yeah, I'd... I'd, um, l-love that."

"Great!" Henry pushed up his glasses with a grin painted on his face. "This might be too soon, but do you want to sit with me at lunch?" _Oh no._

"I-- Actually, I'm, um... sorry," He sputtered, much to Henry's amusement. "I'm sitting with some people, do you wanna... join me?"

Henry shrugged, shutting his locker. "We'll see." And together, they walked to their next class. And to the next one. And the next one. And it was finally lunchtime. 

Ted sat down with Paul, Emma, Bill, and Charlotte, but there was no Henry in sight. Ted ignored the conversation and watched the door, waiting for Henry to enter, but he never came. 

"Ted, how's your first day?" He shrugged, picking at his lunch. "Why are you so quiet?" Again, he shrugged. "Okay, what's wrong?"

He shoved food in his mouth so he could stall answering for a moment longer. "I told Henry he could sit with me, but then I sat with you guys and I can't see him." Emma whacked her hand against the table.

"Ted!" She screamed, "You _cannot_ bring _Henry Hidgens_ to our table!" He was left in shock.

"W-well then, may-maybe I don't want to sit with you." He stood up and snuck away, looking for wherever Henry could be. Ted almost walked gay past the guy because he was sitting behind a door. "Henry?" He whispered, now hearing the muffled sobbing. "Can I come over to you?" 

"Yes." So Ted squeezed in behind the door and sat down next to Henry. "What are you doing here?" 

Henry looked up with a bright red face and tears running down his cheeks. His glasses were off and Ted couldn't look away from his eyes. "You weren't at lunch. I came to find you." He laughed.

"Oh, you're being serious? You didn't just... come to make fun of me?" Ted felt his heart break. Who would go out of their way just to make fun of Henry? "I told you, Ted. Nobody likes me here." 

Henry scooted himself closer to Ted and let his legs stretch away from his knees. "Who's making fun of you?" Henry had a pleading look in his eyes. Ted assumed he didn't really want to share, but Ted wanted to hurt whoever was hurting his new best friend. 

"Just... Emma, and Paul, and Greg, Steve, Stu, Mark, Leighton, and Chad." Ted's jaw fell as Henry counted them off on his fingers. "I used to be best friends with all of them. Then, we had an argument. Greg, Steve, Stu, Mark, Leighton, and Chad graduated last year, but they're always messaging me. Paul and Emma apparently saw me talking to you and they got super defensive. We used to be best friends, until last year."

Ted tried to comfort Henry by rubbing his arm. "I'm sorry, Henry. What did they say to you?" He only shook his head. "Okay, you don't have to tell me. Let's just stay here for now, alright?" Ted nervously started to pull Henry closer. Henry liked the idea and let his had rest on Ted's shoulder while Ted wrapped his arms around Henry. 

The bell rang and people spilled into the hallways. Some stared at them and some were disgusted. And then there was Emma. 


	3. What's Wrong With You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Homophobia, Slurs
> 
> This is a short chapter.

"Oh my God!" Emma yelled at the initial sight of Henry and Ted. " _What's wrong with you?_ " Henry hid his face in Ted's chest. Ted ran his fingers through Henry's hair in an attempt to comfort him. "Henry, don't you _dare_ cry." 

Ted pulled Henry as close as possible and felt Henry shivering against him. "It's okay, Henry, it's okay." 

"It's not okay, Ted." His voice was shaky, but he lifted his head from Ted's chest. "This has been nice, but I can't hang around you any more. Goodbye, Ted." 

Henry quickly stood and stalked away. "Henry..." 

"Ted, you're a fucking _fairy?_ " She caught the attention of several teachers in the hallway. "You are so gross." 


	4. Avoiding You

The days passed by slowly. Ted was already having to avoid the person he considered his only friend, he was gross in the eyes of the only people that has been nice to him, and he was being assigned a group project. 

The words came out of the teacher's mouth in slow motion. "This will be a... _group project."_

Ted's P.O.V:

I cringed as soon as the words came out of her mouth. Almost everyone had somebody to latch onto in desperation, except me and Henry. I looked away, hoping the teacher would put me and him in separate groups. 

"Harry?" She said, Henry looked to the teacher. "Theodore?"

"My name isn't... you know, it doesn't matter." I noticed that Henry had already returned to writing in his notebook. Or maybe he was sketching. 

The teacher clearly didn't care. "You two will work together." I sighed before the realization sank in. 

"Wait, _what_?" We both yelled. Henry had thrown his notebook down to emphasize his point. 

She rolled her eyes. "Can't you hear? You two are partners for the history project." I sighed, resting my head down on my desk. 

After class we were both grumbling angrily at each other. "Meet at Beanies after school?" He offered.

"Fine." He started walking away when I came to an odd realization. "Henry?" He turned his head to look at me. "Why are we mad at each other?"

He shrugged. "I dunno, 'm sorry." I couldn't help but notice that he had a slur to his words, almost as if he was tired. Oh, he's hunching, too. 

"Henry, I'll... I'll talk to you later." I couldn't stand to look at him anymore. His eyes were dull and no longer bright, they were bloodshot and his normally brown eyes looked a dark grey. It looked like he was starting to cry. "No, don't cry, it's fine!" He shook his head. I didn't know exactly how to take it, but I thought he meant that he couldn't avoid crying. 

Tears started streaming down his face, and I hesitantly reached to his eyes to wipe them away. I was afraid of someone staring at us, so I tried not to get too close, but I didn't want anything more than to take him into my arms and let him tell me whatever would make him feel better. 

Jesus, Ted. It's just Henry. Don't be weird. 

"I'll see you after school..." He sniffled. "And next period." I rubbed his shoulder and we walked to our next class. 

"You're doing great, you know." Henry snorted. I couldn't believe it. "What, you don't think you're doing an amazing job?" He just looked at me as if he couldn't believe I was asking him that question. "Henry, we are going to have a talk." 

He looked down at his shoes. "But the project..." I teasingly slapped his arm and he yanked it away from me. 

"You're more important than a project, Henry." I sighed. That poor boy. The one who's older than me and the one that I shouldn't be obsessing over. "Listen,"

"No. I can't talk about this right now, Theodore." I reached out to grab his arm, but he pulled it back and flashed me a hurt expression before speed-walking into our next class. 

In class we were told to work on a worksheet and I passed a note to Henry. The teacher saw it and told him to read it aloud. He rested his head on his hand and mumbles, "It says, 'Hello, Henry, I hope you're okay.'" 

That isn't what I wrote. Apparently, our teacher was deaf and couldn't hear anything Henry said, so he tore the paper from Henry's hands and read it to himself. Either Henry was a genius and gave the teacher a different piece of paper or our teacher didn't care about what I had written. 

Henry didn't once lift his gaze from the sheet of paper he was intensely writing on. I couldn't help but admire how concentrated he seemed to be. 

This can't be happening. I can't be falling for him. Not now.


	5. Crying Over Coffee

I grabbed Henry's arm and sent a quick text to my parents, explaining why I would be gone. "Come on, we're going to Beanies."

"But Ted..." His voice was weak and came out in a whisper. 

"Henry, I _need_ to talk to you." I paused. "Are you worried about your parents?" He shook his head. "Would it make you less tense if I talked to them and explained why you aren't home?" He nodded. "Okay. Would you type in one of their numbers so I can talk to them?" He nodded again. I unlocked my phone and handed it to him to type in a number. "Who am I talking to?"

He handed it back to me. "My mom. She's nice." I nodded, even though there wasn't really anything for me to understand. I suppose it was to reassure him of something. I'm not great with emotions or psychology or whatever it is. 

"Okay." I pressed the button and inhaled a lot of air. "Hello, um, I'm with Henry right now."

His mom took on an angry tone. "What have you done with my son?"

"No, no, ma'am, I'm just his friend. He wanted me to let you know that we're heading to Beanies to work on our history project."

She sighed. Perhaps it was a sigh of relief. "Oh, alright. What's your name, dear?" 

"Ted." I said, simply.

"Okay, Ted, when you two are finished, would you walk him back home?" I smiled and Henry looked at me with furrowed eyebrows.

"Of course!" I think I may have sounded much too excited. 

He wrenched the phone from my hand. "Thanks, momma, bye!" And pressed the red button to hang up. "Come on, let's go." His voice had dropped the level of volume that he had when talking to his mother. 

I held out my hand to him. "Hand?" He hesitantly reached out to my hand but eventually got there and we started walking along the streets of Hatchetfield. "Beanies is over there." 

"I know." He whispered. 

The bell rang and I could see Henry flinch. "What's wrong?" He shook his head. What does he mean? I can't understand the language Henry's speaking. Or not speaking, I suppose. "What do you like to drink?"

He shook his head again before whispering, "Nothing, thanks." I raised my eyebrows and headed over to the counter to order myself a chai iced tea and a croissant for Henry. I sat back down at the table with the couch in the window that Henry had chosen. I pushed the croissant to him and he looked at me with a confused face. "W-what?" 

"I bought it for you." He rested his head on the table and sighed. "What's wrong?"

"I'm gonna feel bad if I don't eat it." He mumbled into his arms. "And I really can't force myself to eat. I'm sorry." 

He pushed it towards me. "It's okay, I don't want you to force yourself. Come closer." Henry scooted closer to me and I squeezed his hand. "You can talk to me, you know. It's just us." 

If it was even possible, he got even closer to me and rested his head on my shoulder like he had done on our first day of senior year. "I'm scared." 

I turned my head and brought my hand up to his head. "You're doing wonderful already, Henry." 

"I think I'm scared of myself. No, that isn't right." He paused to clear his throat and start over. "I think I'm afraid of what I can do... to myself." He rolled up his sleeves and I saw what I was afraid of. There were long and little cuts all over his arms and it was frankly quite frightening. I think I might have audibly gasped because he looked at me, hoping for approval. "I've tried to stop. It's been two months." 

I was legitimately impressed with him and I believe he heard it in my tone of voice when I said, "That's amazing! If you don't mind me asking, how did you stop?" 

"It's fine. I started drawing little bugs and stuff and if I... cut, they'd die." An interesting technique, but I'm really glad it worked for him. "I named them." He admitted, with a chuckle. "I couldn't kill anything with a name!" I rubbed his shoulder. I have never been good at comforting anybody, but I felt like I really needed to comfort Henry. 

I hushed my voice to a whisper. "You are so amazing, Hen." 

"Hen?" He laughed. Hmm, the first time I've seen him laugh. God, Ted, it's not the time to be gay, I need to focus. "It's alright, Ted. I like it." 

"So, any other deep, dark secrets you wanna share?" Henry snuck his arms around my waist and I have never freaked out this much over physical contact with another human. 

"I like you." I hummed, bringing my fingers up to run them through his hair. "A lot. You're nice."

I sighed. "You're the only one who seems to think that." He whimpered a little bit. I hope it was just to show that he felt bad, and not because there was something that scared him and that was hurting him. "But if anyone thinks I'm nice, I'm glad it's you." 

"Aw, Ted!" 

"What do you say we do some homework?" He smiled up at me and that's when I realized I wanted him to stay looking at me like that forever. 

"Okay...but we're coming back to this. And you're meeting my mom today." Henry picked up some of his books off of the table and I smiled. 

I let go of his hand and picked up some of my books. "Y'know, I like you, too, Henry." 

"Let's get to work." 


End file.
